


A Fractured Relationship

by TakeMeOut



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst, F/M, First Time, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-18
Updated: 2017-09-18
Packaged: 2018-12-31 09:42:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12129729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TakeMeOut/pseuds/TakeMeOut
Summary: River. So impenetrable. Almost invulnerable. Except.Except when it comes to the Doctor.





	A Fractured Relationship

**Author's Note:**

> This story takes place at the end of 'Day of the Moon'.

The Doctor leans against the door of the cell. “You could come with us.”

“I escape often enough, thank you. And I have a promise to live up to.” River adjusts his bow tie and smiles. “You'll understand soon enough.” 

“Okay. Up to you.” He begins to walk away. “See you next time. Call me.” 

She blinks. “What, that's it? What's the matter with you?”

He ambles back towards her, arms held wide in bemusement. “Have I forgotten something?” 

She shakes her head and smiles in exasperation. “Oh, shut up.” 

River kisses him, and it takes her a few moments to realise that he’s hardly responding, his arms flapping awkwardly in bewilderment. 

He looks at her, astonished, as though he’s re-evaluating her. “Right. Okay. Interesting.” He scratches his cheek uncertainly. 

“What's wrong? You're acting like we've never done that before.” 

“We haven't.” 

“We haven't?” 

There’s a brief, loaded pause. “Oh, look at the time. Must be off. But it was very nice. It was … it was good. It was … er ... unexpected.” He backs away towards the Tardis. “You know what they say. There's a first time for everything.” He gestures vaguely towards her, and disappears. 

She watches the door shut. “And a last time.” The Tardis dematerialises. 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------

River. So impenetrable. Almost invulnerable. Except. 

Except when it comes to the Doctor. 

The Doctor. That’s when her facade cracks. The jokes, the glibness, the control: they all fall away. This man will be the end of her, but she’ll never be able to let go of him. Perhaps not even at the end.

She lies on her bed, not allowing herself to cry. Her defences would shatter, and she can’t afford that. Outside the Stormcage, the tempest rages, echoing the inside of her head. It’s a loss; that intimacy that has sustained her through so many artificially-lit days and nights. Knowing that he’s out there, and that he’s hers. But this inconsistency is killing her. She never knows where they’ll be. Where she’ll stand. A fractured relationship. 

A familiar sound of materialisation fills the air, and he’s back. She has no way of telling how long it’s been for him. She remembers his discomfort when she kissed him, but he shows no sign of it now; he can turn on a dime from awkward comedian to self-assured ageless being. His eyes are dark, and intent, and he watches her with his hands in his pockets. Doesn’t speak. 

She unbuttons his shirt slowly, running her hand over his chest. He’s just as she remembers him: smooth skin, slimly muscled, beautifully put together. Eyes burning a hole right through her. 

He’s never admitted how long it’s been since he allowed anyone else to become this intimate, but if the way his skin shivers fractionally every time her fingers brush across it is any indication, he hasn’t done this for a long time. 

Her hands run lightly over the soft skin of his back as he moves inside her, and when she comes she buries her face in his neck, trying to hide the tears that escape her. He reaches out and wipes them away gently, his mouth affectionate but his eyes hooded. He kisses her lingeringly, and with meaning, before dressing quickly and leaving. 

She watches the Tardis dematerialise from her bed, leaning forward on one crooked arm. A first time for everything. And a last time.


End file.
